A method implemented in a system including a copier or scanner connected to a digital rights management (DRM) server, which can prevent unauthorized copy or scan while allowing authorized users to obtain high quality hardcopies or scans. After the copier or scanner scans an input hardcopy document, the server determines whether the scanned document image matches any protected document in the DRM system. If a match is found, and the server determines that the user is permitted to copy or distribute the document, the server transmits an electronic version of the matched document from the DRM system to the copier or user-selected email recipients, so that the user or the email recipients can receive a high quality document. If a matched document is found but the user is not permitted to copy or distribute it, the copier or scanner deletes the scanned document image without printing or saving it.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method for generating a hardcopy of an input hardcopy document, implemented in a system including a connected device and a server connected to each other, the connected device being a copying device and/or a scanning device, the method comprising: maintaining, by the server, a digital rights management (DRM) system which stores a plurality of protected documents and a DRM database containing user access permission information; in response to instructions from a user to perform a requested action, scanning, by the connected device, the input hardcopy document to generate a scanned document image, obtaining document characteristics information from the scanned document image, and transmitting the document characteristics information to the server along with an identity of the user and the requested action, the requested action being one of: making a hardcopy of the input document, scanning the input document to generate an electronic version and to save the electronic version, and scanning the input document to generate an electronic version and to distribute the electronic version to specified recipients; performing, by the server, document matching to determine whether the document characteristics information received from the connected device matches that of any of the plurality of protected documents stored in the DRM system; when the document characteristics information matches that of a protected document stored in the DRM system: determining by, the server, based on the DRM database, whether the user has permission to perform the requested action to the matched protected document; when the user is determined to have permission to perform the requested action to the matched protected document, transmitting, by the server, a first response with an electronic version of the matched protected document to the connected device, or completing the requested action using the electronic version of the matched protected document in place of the scanned document image generated by the connected device in the scanning step, wherein the electronic version of the matched protected document is obtained from information pre-stored in the DRM system maintained by the server, and the electronic version is different from the scanned document image generated by the connected device in the scanning step; and when the user is determined to have no permission to perform the requested action to the matched protected document, transmitting, by the server, a second response to the connected device; and in response to receiving the first response with the electronic version of the matched protected document from the server, completing, by the connected device, the requested action using the received electronic version of the protected document in place of the scanned document image generated by the connected device in the scanning step, and in response to the second response, deleting, by the connected device,the document image generated by scanning the input hardcopy document without performing the requested action.
A system prevents unauthorized copying/scanning of documents. A copier/scanner sends document characteristics (scanned image or document ID) and user ID to a DRM server. The server checks if the document matches a protected document in its DRM system. If it matches and the user has permission (based on a DRM database), the server sends the original electronic document to the copier/scanner. The copier/scanner then completes the requested action (copy, save, or distribute) using this electronic version instead of the scanned image. If the user lacks permission, the server sends a denial, and the copier/scanner deletes the scanned image without processing. The user-requested action is copying, scanning to save, or scanning to distribute.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the document characteristics information includes either the scanned document image generated by scanning the input hardcopy document, or a document ID extracted from the scanned document image, or both.
In the method described in Claim 1, the document characteristics sent from the copier/scanner to the DRM server for document matching include either the full scanned document image, or a document ID extracted from that scanned image, or both the scanned image and the document ID. The document characteristics are used to determine if the scanned document is a protected document.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: when the document characteristics information matches that of none of the protected documents stored in the DRM system, transmitting, the server, a third response to the connected device, or completing the requested action using the scanned document image received from the connected device; and in response to the third response, completing, by the connected device, the requested action using the scanned document image.
In the method described in Claim 1, if the DRM server finds no matching protected document, it sends a confirmation to the copier/scanner, or completes the requested action using the scanned document image received from the copier/scanner. The copier/scanner then completes the requested action using the original scanned image. The user-requested action can be copying, scanning to save, or scanning to distribute.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the requested action is to make a hardcopy of the input document.
In the method described in Claim 3 where the DRM server finds no match and the copier/scanner completes the requested action using the scanned image, the specific requested action being performed is making a hardcopy (photocopy) of the original input document. Therefore, the copier prints the scanned document image directly.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the input hardcopy document contains an inconspicuous security pattern, wherein in response to the first response, printing, by the connected device, the hardcopy document using the received electronic version of the protected document and the printed document contains an inconspicuous security pattern, and wherein in response to the third response, printing, by the connected device, the hardcopy using the scanned document image generated by scanning the input hardcopy document and the printed hardcopy contains a conspicuous security pattern.
In the method described in Claim 4, where the copier is making a hardcopy, the original document contains a subtle security pattern. If the user is authorized and the copier prints the DRM-provided electronic version (as in Claim 1), the output copy contains an *inconspicuous* security pattern. If the document is not protected (as in Claim 3), the copy printed from the scanned image has a *conspicuous* security pattern.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the electronic version of the protected document contains no security pattern, and wherein the step of printing the hardcopy document using the received electronic version of the protected document includes adding an inconspicuous security pattern to the printed hardcopy document.
In the method described in Claim 5, where the copier prints a hardcopy with a security pattern, the electronic version of the document provided by the DRM server (for authorized copies) does *not* contain the security pattern. Instead, when printing the authorized copy from the electronic version, the copier *adds* an inconspicuous security pattern during the printing process.
7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: when the document characteristics information matches that of none of the protected, documents stored in the DRM system, apply, by the server, digital rights to the scanned document image, including: encrypting the document, storing the encrypted document in the DRM system, and storing user access permission information for the document in the DRM database.
In the method described in Claim 3 where the DRM server finds no match for the scanned document, the server applies digital rights management (DRM) to the *scanned* document image. This includes encrypting the scanned document, storing the encrypted document in the DRM system, and storing user access permission information for this newly protected document in the DRM database.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the requested action is to scan the input document to generate an electronic version and to save the electronic version.
In the method described in Claim 1, the user's requested action is specifically to scan the input document and save the electronic version. The copier/scanner captures the image, sends it to the DRM server for matching and authorization checks. The output is an electronic file saved according to the DRM policies.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the requested action is to scan the input document to generate an electronic version and to distribute the electronic version to specified recipients.
In the method described in Claim 1, the user's requested action is specifically to scan the input document, generate an electronic version, and distribute it to specified recipients. The copier/scanner captures the image and sends it to the DRM server for matching and authorization checks before distribution.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein when the document characteristics information matches that of one of the plurality of protected documents stored in the DRM system and when the user is determined to have permission to distribute the protected document to the specified recipients, distributing, by the server,the electronic version of the protected document to the specified recipients.
In the method described in Claim 9, if the scanned document matches a protected document in the DRM system, and the user is authorized to distribute that specific document to the intended recipients, the DRM server proceeds to distribute the electronic version of the *protected* document (not the scanned image) directly to those recipients.
11. A computer program product comprising a computer usable non-transitory medium having a computer readable program code embedded therein for controlling a server, the computer readable program code configured to cause the server to execute a digital rights management (DRM) process, the process comprising: maintaining a DRM system which stores a plurality of protected documents and a DRM database containing user access permission information; receiving, from a connected device, document characteristics information, an identity of a user and a requested action, the requested action being one of: making a hardcopy of an input document, scanning the input document to generate an electronic version and to save the electronic version, and scanning the input document to generate an electronic version and to distribute the electronic version to specified recipients; performing document matching to determine whether the document characteristics information received from the connected device matches that of any of the plurality of protected documents stored in the DRM system; and when the document Characteristics information matches that of a protected document stored in the DRM system: determining, based on the DRM database, whether the user has permission to perform the requested action to the matched protected document; when the user is determined to have permission to perform the requested action to the matched protected document, transmitting a first response with an electronic version of the matched protected document to the connected device, or completing the requested action using the electronic version of the matched protected document, wherein the electronic version of the matched protected document is obtained from information pre-stored in the DRM system maintained by the server; and when the user is determined to have no permission to perform the requested action to the matched protected document, transmitting a second response to the connected devices; the computer program product further comprising another computer usable non-transitory medium having another computer readable program code embedded therein for controlling the connected device, the other computer readable program code configured to cause the connected device to execute a copying process, the process comprising: in response to instructions from a user to perform a requested action, scanning the input hardcopy document to generate a scanned document image, obtaining document characteristics information from the scanned document image, and transmitting the document characteristics information to the server along with an identity of the user and the requested action, the requested action being one of: making a hardcopy of the input document, scanning the input document to generate an electronic version and to save the electronic version, and scanning the input document to generate an electronic version and to distribute the electronic version to specified recipients; in response to receiving the first response with the electronic version of the matched protected document from the server, wherein the electronic version is different from the scanned document image generated in the scanning step, completing the requested action using the received electronic version of the protected document in place of the scanned document image generated by the connected device in the scanning step, and in response to the second response, the connected device deleting the document image generated by scanning the input hardcopy document without performing the requested action.
A computer program product controls a server and a connected device (copier/scanner) to manage document rights. The server's DRM process maintains a database of protected documents and user permissions. The server receives document characteristics, user ID, and requested action (copy, scan-to-save, or scan-to-distribute) from the connected device. It checks for a matching protected document. If found and the user has permission, the server sends an electronic version of the document to the device, or completes the action itself using the electronic version. If no permission, the server sends a denial. The connected device's process scans the document, sends characteristics to the server, and upon receiving the electronic document from the server, completes the action using that document instead of the scanned image; otherwise it deletes the scanned image upon denial.
12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the document characteristics information includes either a scanned document image generated by scanning an input hardcopy document, or a document ID extracted from the scanned document image, or both.
In the computer program product described in Claim 11, the document characteristics sent from the copier/scanner to the DRM server for document matching include either the full scanned document image, or a document ID extracted from that scanned image, or both the scanned image and the document ID. The document characteristics are used to determine if the scanned document is a protected document.
13. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the requested action is to scan the input document to generate an electronic version and to distribute the electronic version to specified recipients, and wherein when the document characteristics information matches that of one of the plurality of protected documents stored in the DRM system and when the user is determined to have permission to distribute the protected document to the specified recipients, the step of completing the requested action using the electronic version of the matched protected document includes distributing the electronic version of the protected document to the specified recipients.
In the computer program product described in Claim 11, the requested action is scanning to generate an electronic version and distribute it. If the scanned document matches a protected document and the user has permission to distribute it, the process of completing the action using the electronic version involves distributing that protected document's electronic version directly to the specified recipients.
14. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the DRM process further comprises: when the document characteristics information matches that of none of the protected documents stored in the DRM system, transmitting a third response to the connected device, or completing the requested action using a scanned document image of the hardcopy document received from the connected device.
In the computer program product described in Claim 11, if the DRM server finds no matching protected document, the process involves transmitting a confirmation signal to the connected device, or completing the requested action using the scanned document image received from the connected device. This allows the connected device to proceed with the action using the scanned image.
15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the DRM process further comprises: when the document characteristics information matches that of none of the protected documents stored in the DRM system, applying digital rights to the scanned document image, including: encrypting the document, storing the encrypted document in the DRM system, and storing user access permission information for the document in the DRM database.
In the computer program product described in Claim 14, where the DRM server finds no matching protected document, the process includes applying digital rights management (DRM) to the *scanned* document image. This includes encrypting the scanned document, storing the encrypted document in the DRM system, and storing user access permission information for this newly protected document in the DRM database, effectively making it a protected document for future use.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
June 10, 2015
May 2, 2017
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